


Anniversaries

by Caisar



Category: Assassin's Creed - All Media Types
Genre: Anniversary, Fluff, M/M, Married Couple
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-06
Updated: 2016-12-06
Packaged: 2018-09-06 17:47:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,392
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8762863
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Caisar/pseuds/Caisar
Summary: Wedding anniversary gifts list.





	

On their first anniversary, Shaun gives Desmond a pair of cotton trousers that brings a wide grin to scarred lips. They both know he'll never wear it.  
Shaun carries the pocket watch everywhere.

On their second anniversary, Shaun gives Desmond an old book; no surprise there. Later, Desmond learns from Rebecca that it's Shaun's favorite novel from his teenage years, and the copy he gave Desmond is the only thing from those times that he managed to keep, despite Abstergo and all those times they had to drop everything and run. Desmond feels slightly guilty for never touching it. Slightly, because Shaun has never used the tea set Desmond bought for him either.

On their third anniversary, Shaun gives Desmond a set of leather coasters that Desmond places in the middle of their home bar. Rebecca smiles at the display. She is less happy when Shaun throws away his wallet, her gift, to use the one from Desmond. What can he say? It goes nicely with his new belt.

On their fourth anniversary, Shaun forgets to buy a present. Desmond doesn't resent him for it; he knows how things have been recently at the college. He resents that Shaun seems to love the coffee pot Desmond buys him a little more than Desmond himself, though.

On their fifth anniversary, Shaun compensates for the last year by taking Desmond out for a nice dinner. The cotton pants are a bit tight by then, for which Desmond blames Shaun's cooking, and the gifts are lame, but it's a great night and who cares about anything else?

On their sixth anniversary, no one gets a present; they have a fight instead. It's not unusual; they are used to fighting over the smallest things, but they usually kiss and make up by bed time. Not tonight.

On their seventh anniversary, the fight is long forgotten. Desmond puts on a show as he takes off the worn white hoodie and dons his new wool jacket. It’s horribly distracting and way more interesting than the papers Shaun is marking.  
The next morning, Shaun finishes his work with a pen on which his name is etched.

On their eighth anniversary, Shaun buys Desmond bath salt of different scents. Technically acceptable and certainly a better gift than the bed linens Desmond gets him, which are _not_ made of linen, but are just as effective at giving Shaun a rash. Shaun swears that he will burn the bloody things, but doesn’t. They make permanent residents of their closet.

On their ninth anniversary, Shaun buys Desmond a copper keychain. It pales in comparison to the leather shoes he gets Shaun, or so he thinks until he carelessly throws it on the key bowl the next day and the keychain opens, revealing words carved inside. He never throws it again.

On their tenth anniversary, they opt for no presents, because Shaun would never carry or use anything with or made of diamond even if Desmond could afford it, and Shaun can’t find anything with tin that isn’t plain awful. 

On their eleventh anniversary, Desmond doesn’t expect any presents; Wikipedia told him that the British don’t buy gifts for year eleven. He gets a pleasant surprise when he gives Shaun the cufflinks and Shaun gives him two tickets; Desmond himself didn’t know his favorite band was in town. It’s an awesome night of cheap beer, ringing ears and kisses on smiling lips. Shaun doesn’t complain about his music taste for a change.

On their twelfth anniversary, Shaun starts carrying silk handkerchiefs and Desmond adds a tie to the pile of clothes he will never wear. 

On their thirteenth anniversary, Shaun cheats by buying a gift. Again. It’s an interesting one, to say the least; a small 13 tattooed on his left wrist, denoting the day of their anniversary as well as Desmond’s birthday. It looks ridiculous on him and Desmond doubles down in laughter when he sees it, before kissing the still sore area. 

On their fourteenth anniversary, Shaun’s part of the list is still empty, but that doesn’t keep him from getting rings; a replacement for the one Desmond has lost a few days ago and still feels guilty about, and a matching band for himself. They’ve been meaning to get new ones anyway.

On their fifteenth anniversary, Desmond buys him a watch. It was a nice gesture that Shaun stopped wearing one after getting the tattoo, saying he had the pocket watch anyway, but Desmond knows Shaun likes watches and the brown leather complements his skin. It’s worth the awful jokes about how Desmond is trying to turn him into a leather daddy piece by piece.  
Desmond’s new crystal shot glasses look absurd next to the leather coasters. He wouldn’t dare put them elsewhere.

On their twentieth anniversary, the preponderant feeling is surprise. They know each other’s tastes and ways of thinking too well to get surprised at the gifts by then, after exchanging so many over the years; a glasses holder that Shaun accepted with a wry grin here, a small piercing that looks surprisingly appealing on a 48-year-old there, trinkets decorating the house and making it irrevocably _theirs_. They are simply surprised that they made it that far. Despite all her wishes on the contrary, even Rebecca didn’t expect them to last.

On their twenty-fifth anniversary, they decide to not get each other anything, but still do. Silver looks better than crystal on Desmond and matches Shaun’s hair.

On their thirtieth anniversary, they accept for the first time that they are old men now. Settling for owning and running a bar instead of tending it was the second-best decision Desmond has ever made, the best one being getting married to Shaun, and Shaun has been thinking about retiring for a while. Their time of running from Abstergo is a memory by now, the thrill something they only vaguely miss. At times, Shaun finds himself wondering how William had managed to keep up with the chase; that man had been older than Shaun is now even when they’ve first met, and Shaun can’t see himself doing anything except for lying next to Desmond, shoulder to shoulder, hand in hand. He isn’t entirely sure that he would bother to sit up if Abstergo barged in and pointed guns at them right that second. That would be ending it on a high note.

Abstergo don’t barge in and their story doesn’t end there; they have many years and many precious stones in their future. On their fortieth anniversary, Desmond gets a ruby ring he definitely won’t wear and Shaun gets yet another pair of cufflinks. As they exchange gifts, they both wonder if they will be able to reach gold; Shaun’s health has been on a steady decline for years now and Desmond’s ancestors aren’t known for their longevity, unnatural causes or not. They don’t say it out loud, because it’s not a happy thought and surely doesn’t belong in an anniversary, but it’s not a sad one either; time and age taught them to cherish their time together and that’s what they will do.

Later, Desmond will buy Shaun a Geek Pen and Shaun will buy Desmond a cook book, both of which will sit unused. Later, Shaun will ask Desmond to take off the piercing, because as much as he likes what Desmond calls his “cool geezer look”, it’s getting ridiculous. Later, Desmond will get another tattoo, this time covering his right forearm, to prove that he _is_ a cool geezer and nope, he is not taking off the piercing. Later, he will buy Shaun a cane, partly as a gag gift, partly because Shaun actually needs one but doesn’t admit it. Later, they will decide that they are tired of the noise and want to live somewhere more quiet, and as they pack everything, they will go through each and every present they have ever bought for each other, save the ones that have gotten lost to time or shattered on some wall during a particularly violent fight. Some will have to get thrown out or stored somewhere, as they can’t carry everything to their new home, and they will argue on what to keep, which will lead to irritated looks and apology kisses. In the end, they will decide that it doesn’t matter; it’s never been about the presents.

**Author's Note:**

> [Wedding anniversary gifts list.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wedding_anniversary#Anniversary_gift_lists)


End file.
